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Sunday, October 02, 2011

Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways officials were left red-faced Thursday after it was discovered they had Photoshopped three officials into a typhoon cleanup photo.

Typhoon Nesat struck the Philippines on Tuesday, killing 31 people, displacing 60,000 families, and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The disaster’s cost is estimated at nearly $23 million.

In the cleanup photo, the three officials appeared to be assessing the damage of the typhoon, but one discerning blogger and civil engineer noticed that something didn’t seem quite right.

A careful look at the photo shows that the officials seem to be floating in mid-air, and that their images were likely dragged into the scene using Photoshop’s lasso tool.

The department has taken down the photos and issued an apology on its Facebook page:

We would like to apologize to Undersecretary Romeo Momo, Director Rey Tagudando and District Engineer Mikunug Macud for whatever inconvenience that may have caused them regarding the photo earlier posted. Rest assured that we shall exert more diligence and prudence in the execution of our mandate to inform the public of our plans, programs, projects and official activities.